Immedia mobile app developer, Kishyr Ramdial from Durban, has won first prize for his RadioPod app in the inaugural Vodacom App Store Challenge, held in Midrand earlier this week.

the App Store Challenge, launched by Vodacom Digital Media as part of Vodacom’s Developer Programme is part of the service provider’s strategy to embed itself within the local Android space by showing its support for local app development catering for a uniquely local market.

All entries were judged based on the local relevance of the app, user experience, design, content and overall quality. Ramdial’s RadioPod app, that serves as a South African directory of radio and other podcast content, scored highly on all the above criteria, earning him first prize.

At the age of 25, Ramdial already has six years of iOS development experience which has contributed to this achievement that has won him R15 000 in prize money, an iPad2 and tickets to a local ICT conference of his choice.

Ramdial says, “For me, winning this award represents a stake in the ground for South Africa and Durban in particular. It proves that Durban-based developers can be relevant and competitive – not just with other better-resourced and -profiled cities in South Africa, but also globally. It is also the ultimate recognition of the excellent skills that developers within our team have honed during the last five years.

“One of the most important lessons we’ve learnt is that the best apps are the ones built by a multi-disciplinary team, consisting of designers, front- and back-end developers, strategists and the client. In light of this, we hope to continue developing technically and aesthetically groundbreaking local apps and in doing so, give even more credence to our philosophy that apps can be ‘by Africans but for the world’.”